The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, in particular, to lay-in electrical connectors.
Lay-in electrical connectors are frequently used for securing large gauge conductors that are stiff and difficult to handle as compared with smaller diameter conductors that are readily deformed and contorted for securement. Lay-in electrical connectors generally include a lug body having a channel-shaped wireway, a top screw-threaded lug cap received and captured within the wireway, and a binding screw extending through the lug cap to be tightened against a conductor or conductors laid in the wireway. The wireway is provided with opposed upstanding walls each having an inwardly-oriented groove that captures a corresponding one of opposite side flanges provided on the lug cap. The grooves of the wireway cooperate with the side flanges of the lug cap to resist upward movement of the lug cap as the binding screw is tightened.
The lay-in style of electrical connectors is characterized in that the lug cap may be separated from the lug body when a conductor is to be laid into place between the upstanding walls of the lug body. As a result, the conductor does not have to be forced into the entrance of the wireway. After the conductor is positioned in the wireway, the side flanges of the lug cap are engaged with the grooves of the wireway and the lug cap is slidingly shifted into position over the conductor. The binding screw is tightened to apply a clamping force to the inserted conductor that presses the conductor against the floor of the wireway. The clamping force creates an assembly of the lug cap and lug body.
Certain lay-in style electrical connectors include multiple wireways each capable of accepting a conductor. One significant disadvantage of multi-conductor lay-in electrical connectors is the multiplicity of components. Associated with each wireway is an independent lug cap carrying at least one binding screw. The electrical connector is typically shipped from the manufacturer as a group of loose components, which may become separated during shipment and lost. As a result, workers installing multi-conductor lay-in electrical connectors may lack all components needed for the installation. Even if all components are available, the worker must track the various components during assembly. Often, the components are misplaced or mislaid. Therefore, it is of considerable practical importance to maintain assembly of the parts of a lay-in electrical connector when it is not in use.
Multi-conductor lay-in electrical connectors include a tang that incorporates multiple mounting openings used to secure the electrical connector to a supporting structure or device with conventional fasteners. Such electrical connectors find use in the utility industry for attachment to, for example, a spade mount bushing on a transformer. Although the screw-threaded cap and connector body may be formed as extruded components, the tang must be machined in its entirety from metal stock. As a result, the tang is relatively expensive to manufacture. Moreover, the tang is typically welded to the connector body which adds a manufacturing step and increases the labor costs incurred to perform the welding operation.
Therefore, there is a need for a multi-conductor lay-in electrical connector having a tang that is removably coupled with the lug body and formed by extrusion, and for a device that can maintain the components of the lay-in electrical connector united with the lug body before installation.
The invention is related to a lay-in electrical connector configured to accept multiple conductors. According to the principles of the invention and in one embodiment, the lay-in electrical connector includes a body member or lug body having a plurality of dividing walls defining a plurality of conductor-receiving channels each capable of receiving a conductor, a plurality of cap members or lug caps each configured to be engaged with a corresponding one of the conductor-receiving channels, and a tang configured to be engaged with the body member. Each of the cap members has a binding screw capable of being tightened to capture the conductor in the conductor-receiving channel. The tang includes an attachment pad with at least one mounting hole and a plurality of fingers extending from a side edge of the attachment pad. Each of the plurality of fingers is positioned between adjacent ones of said dividing walls when the tang is engaged with the body member. When the binding screw is tightened, the conductor received within the corresponding one of the conductor-receiving channels is captured between one of the fingers and the binding screw of the cap member. In certain embodiments of the invention, at least the tang is formed by an extrusion process and, in other embodiments of the invention, the mounting holes in the attachment pad of the tang are formed during the extrusion process forming the tang.
Forming the tang by extrusion reduces the manufacturing costs for the multi-conductor lay-in electrical connector and expands the flexibility for its use. Moreover, in certain embodiments of the invention, the mounting holes of the attachment pad are created during the extrusion process so that the tang may be formed without any significant additional machining or drilling which reduces the expense of the manufacturing process. In addition, the electrical connector of the invention is free of welded joints because the tang is held in place by an assembly force supplied by the engagement between the binding screws and the conductor in the conductor-receiving channel.
According to the principles of the invention, a lay-in electrical connector is provided that includes a body member having a conductor-receiving channel capable of receiving a conductor and a cap member removably received in a portion of the conductor-receiving channel. The cap member has a binding screw capable of being tightened to secure the conductor positioned in the conductor-receiving channel. The electrical connector further includes a plug removably positioned in the conductor-receiving channel. The plug is configured to be contacted by the binding screw for captivating the cap member with the body member.
According to the principles of the invention, the removable plug reduces labor costs associated with installation of a lay-in electrical connector having at least one removable cap member or lug cap and simplifies the installation process. In particular, the removable plug permits the lug cap to be associated with the body member or lug body in a pre-assembled condition for storage and shipment after manufacture. To that end, the removable plug captivates the lug cap with the lug body without advancing the binding screw(s) to contact the lug body for holding the assembly together. As a result, the binding screw(s) are suspended in a position ready for securing a conductor in the conductor-receiving channel without withdrawing or otherwise moving the binding screw(s) after the plug is removed. After the lug cap is disengaged from the lug body and the plug is removed, the lug cap can then be re-engaged with the lug body in a position suitable for engaging the binding screws with the conductor without manipulating the binding screws to avoid the obstruction presented by the conductor during re-engagement.